Cornell's journey goes for naught

Saturday

SOUTH PARK — The ride from Cornell High School to South Park was a long one with all the traffic adjustments necessary because of the G-20 Summit. The team left Coraopolis at 4:15.

The ride home seemed even longer as the Raiders came close to picking up their first win of the season, losing 20-18 when a two-point conversion was stopped with 1:52 left in the game. Mark Rucker had scored on a 6-yard run to bring Cornell to within two points.

Cornell fell to 0-4 in the Century Conference. South Park is 2-2.

“We go into every game with two plays chosen for two-point conversions,” Cornell coach Dan Knause said. “We had run the play earlier in the game and it was there. It was an option play with two pitches and we just didn’t make the pitch the first time.

“The kids are hurting now,” Knause said. “They know they can win in this conference but we just didn’t execute. I’m proud of them, though. We’re a small school and we’ve already had four season-ending injuries already.

“They keep battling and I can’t say enough about them.”

Cornell scored first in the game on a 6-yard run by quarterback Jake Almasy. Almasy added another 6-yard scoring run in the second quarter and South Park led at the half, 14-12.

Shayne Dotson, who rushed for 264 yards for South Park, put the Eagles ahead 20-12 with a 17-yard run at the start of the third quarter, but the missed extra point kept Cornell’s hopes alive.

The Raiders, who had two touchdowns called back because of penalties, amassed 348 yards rushing and 27 first downs. Freshman Isiah Neely rushed for 136 yards and Almasy had 112.